Association Weighs in with EPA on SRF Streamlining

(December 5, 2017) - NACWA submitted a letter Nov. 30 to EPA outlining a number of suggestions on how the Agency can streamline the State Revolving Fund (SRF) process for utilities, particularly around application and reporting requirements. NACWA’s ideas, which were developed by a workgroup of Association utility members, include additional EPA assistance to help states fund more staff for SRF application reviews, the ability to apply for money through a “programmatic” approach instead of a “project by project” approach, and more assistance in determining the appropriate prevailing wages under Davis-Bacon requirements.

One of the things NACWA’s workgroup discovered while developing its recommendations is that many of the most onerous SRF requirements utilities face are actually imposed by individual states and not by EPA. Accordingly, NACWA’s letter also requests that EPA develop a compendium of SRF requirements for each state so that utilities can better understand which requirements are actually being implemented by their own states.

EPA is currently working on its own internal list of potential SRF streamlining ideas, so NACWA’s input comes at an opportune time. NACWA has been discussing these issues with EPA for a number of months and looks forward to continued dialog with the Agency. Any NACWA members with questions about this effort may contact Nathan Gardner-Andrews, NACWA’s Chief Advocacy Officer.